Hi guys,
Funny thing, as I said before, I had never heard of this Pyoderma Gangrenosum before you mentioned it. But a few weeks ago I met with my gastro and I showed her a small spot on the skin around my stoma that had gotten pink, sore, and was releasing a very small amount of pus under my barrier ring. Looked like a classic infection to me.....but she wanted me to talk to the Georgetown Derm team via teleconference. I set up the meeting for the following week, and then because I didn't want to let it get worse while waiting for the meeting.....I put myself on Amoxicillin and saw my primary care doc to get a swab test of the pus. The swab results were inconclusive (the story of my life), but by the time I met with Derm online the infection was completely gone. Before my virtual appointment with Derm, I sent them pics of my infection taken in 2-day intervals showing them how it cleared up. Despite it being all cleared up they still thought I might have Pyoderma Gangrenosum, despite me having zero indications of any active Crohn's disease. I'm actually healthier than most of them.......but they still wanted to proceed with a steroid treatment regime. Sooooo....I've been on Cyclosporine for the past week, had blood work done before I started and again yesterday, and have another week of Cyclo and one more round of bloodwork to go. My bloodwork before I started the Cyclo showed nothing......no elevated WBC....or any indication of infection. So I don't know how they'll declare success.......but I'm sure they will. You gotta love our medical system! UUGH!
Regards,
Bob